New England assistant manager Anthony Barry says the chance to mastermind a shot at 2026 World Cup glory immediately “captured the imagination” of Thomas Tuchel.
The 51-year-old was unveiled as head coach of the Euro 2020 and 2024 runners-up on Wednesday, having agreed an 18-month deal with the English Football Association the previous week.
German coach Tuchel is the third non-English full-time manager of the England men’s team and will be assisted by Liverpool-born Barry, who he worked with at Chelsea and Bayern Munich.
The 38-year-old midfielder turned Pro Licence coach has worked with the Republic of Ireland, Belgium and Portugal national teams, but now gets to coach his own country.
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“Pretty incredible, really,” Barry said. “Quite surreal. It’s been a fantastic process and Thomas and I have loved every minute of it.
“As soon as I’d seen the project had captured the imagination of Thomas in the way it did, we were back and forward sharing so much energy towards it and imagining what we could do with these players. Of course there’s the extra layer for me of being an Englishman.
“I’ve worked for lots of federations around the world and they’ve all been a privilege, but to come home and represent the FA and England is something that’s the proudest moment of my career.”
Barry remembers coming to the old Wembley with his father to watch games at Euro 96 and lost at the new stadium as a Yeovil player in the 2007 League One playoff final against Blackpool.
The 38-year has won and lost there as a coach and “can’t wait to be standing on the sideline wearing the Three Lions”, when he hopes his international experience will prove beneficial.
“Hopefully it will help us,” Barry told England’s YouTube channel. “I have been fortunate in the last few years to work for some of the biggest teams in the world, whether that’s in club or international football.
“For such a young coach I have quite a lot of experience and I hope it can help us.
“Thomas has already spoken about the fact we want to move quickly and be streamlined with our processes and part of that will hopefully be my experience in international football.”
Tuchel and Barry are due to start work at the FA on January 1st, with interim boss Lee Carsley overseeing England’s final Nations League group games in November.
They trail Group B2 leaders Greece by three points heading to Athens next month as they seek promotion back to the top tier, having lost last week’s reverse fixture 2-1.
Carsley rounds off his temporary spell with a Wembley clash against the Republic of Ireland – the country he represented as a player – before returning to his job as England Under-21s boss.
The European qualifying draw for the 2026 World Cup in the the United States, Canada and Mexico is scheduled to take place on December 13th.
